ENTERTAINMENT Logan full of offbeat charms

Movie lacks regular police chases, gunfights that are the norm in heist flicks

between them.

Continuing his penchant for peculiar casting choices, he also gives us an almost unrecognizable Seth MacFarlane as a sportsdrink magnate; Dwight Yoakam as the warden of the prison where Joe has been incarcerated; and Hilary Swank as an FBI agent who swings in to solve the crime, shaking down suspects like a dog with a bone and grumbling: “I hate airtight alibis.”

It all adds up to an uneven story that manages to be far more entertaining than a bare-bones description would suggest. Take Jimmy’s bizarre run-in with a public-health nurse played by Katherine (daughter of Sam) Waterston, who gives him a tetanus shot, a My Little Pony Band-Aid and a wistful look that has Jimmy and audience members alike wishing she wouldn’t leave.

Or the inmates’ attempts to cover for Joe’s brief prison breakout, which turns into an impromptu critique of George R.R. Martin’s delay in completing his Game of Thrones books.

These scenes contain an internal logic and humour that doesn’t quite match the rest of the movie, but doesn’t really hurt it either. It’s like wine and cheese: Nothing like one another, but an excellent pairing nonetheless.

Logan Lucky won’t be to everyone’s liking. But thanks to a weird release coincidence, those with more mainstream aspirations can head to The Hitman’s Bodyguard, while viewers wanting a more edgy fraternal-robbery story can take in Good Time, which opens next week in many markets.

Then again, this one offers pleasures you won’t find anywhere else. And isn’t the best heist one where you go after that one-of-a-kind treasure? cknight@postmedia.com twitter.com/chrisknightfilm

SUPPLIED PHOTO Daniel Craig, left, and Dwight Yoakam are seen in the offbeat heist film Logan Lucky. Steven Soderbergh came out of retirement to make the film, working from a script by the reclusive Rebecca Blunt who some believe is a pseudonym.